(Extract of) United States Department of State record re: Vice President Nixon's 1959 Trip to Russia and the use of Radiological detection equipment

Transcription

1 Description of document: Requested date: Released date: Posted date: (Extract of) United States Department of State record re: Vice President Nixon's 1959 Trip to Russia and the use of Radiological detection equipment 20-March April July-2008 Dates of document: July-August 1959, April 1976, March 1977 Source of document: United States Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security Freedom of nformation Act Office of nformation Programs and Services A/SS/PS/RL U. S. Department of State Washington, D. C Fax: Notes: Request originally submitted to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) then forwarded to the Department of State Note request and release dates The governmentattic.org web site ( the site ) is noncommercial and free to the public. The site and materials made available on the site, such as this file, are for reference only. The governmentattic.org web site and its principals have made every effort to make this information as complete and as accurate as possible, however, there may be mistakes and omissions, both typographical and in content. The governmentattic.org web site and its principals shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused, or alleged to have been caused, directly or indirectly, by the information provided on the governmentattic.org web site or in this file.

2 United States Department of State Washington, D.C APR Re: Freedom of nformation Act (FOA) Case # Reference is made to your March 20, 2002, Freedom of nformation Act request to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) concerning Vice President Nixon's 1959 Trip to Russia and the use of Radiological detection equipment. DHS has referred one partial document to the Bureau of Diplomatic Security for review and direct response to you. We have withheld portions of our material pursuant to the provisions of 5 USC 552 (b)(2). Under the Department's regulations, you may appeal any denial of Department of State information to the Department's Appeals Review Panel. Appeals should be sent by certified mail to the Chairman, Appeals Review Panel, c/o Appeals Officer, AlRPS/PS/PP/LC, SA-2, Room 8100, Department of State, Washington, DC A copy of the Department's Appeals Procedures is enclosed. fyou have any questions regarding a particular aspect of this case, you should contact the Office of nformation Programs and Services, (A/SS/PS). n any communication, please refer to the case number. Sincerely, Enclosures: Document Explanation of Exemptions Appeal Procedures Stephen J. Mergens Executive Director Bureau of Diplomatic Security

3 3 U\ \ ' 7/29/59 or At the guest dacha outside of Sverdlosk, went for a wa..j.k. t 7/30/59 in the oods '..:ith Vice Admiral and told him w~at we had found at Spaso House. 8/5/59 We traveled on to Siberia, Novosibirsk, returned to ~osccjw for a few days then to Poland.... Returned to U.S.A. N...te \Ss[1ilS,. _~fe\6., pit. la '6 a1e \ ~. U\~ S~~ et 'l'\p. 01 xt>ec\3s \J.} pe\?t. o).~... ' se l ) v,tl:;, 1 (:;(p.o\...( ) t\>-~.o. \t9ss,ts1'l 'f.. 'f.. ) 1t\1ltion.(b)l ),~ t\>-c ( )noe\»''!'j~ erp'' s.---:::::;; ~ 'b(,,--/o ~\U\con.~~--c~ pt.te ~ \1?Sb'J~ ~ to. r : r (4/28/ '1\e- Ycd Told Dr. Herb Pollack, Dr. William Watson and Bob Blair o : \. ~n(2s-b7..) They sa~d they were_only ware of mlcro-\o,ave rad1.-~.k ' at~on at Embassy beginning i p~-b~' They said they would check my story. A couple wee 5 later, called Herb Polla.ck \ and he said they had found out about the Spaso House radia.tion. \ \ 10:30 a.m. ~he State Departm~nt Soviet Desk about S!'aso 1.louse radiatl~n '. oot \ those U.S. Embassy personnel who had been exposed to the /77 called and made an appointment with Dr. Herbert Pollack, 9:30 a.m. State Department Medical Division, after reading about the $400,000 grant to Johns Hopkins Hospital to interview all micro-waye :adf.a:ion. a.t t:j:e?~a~sy_.in.t-to.s.ciow1. went to r his offic~ ~na.~~ s~~?~n ~vd:!:as~c~ ~im:i!! could talk to the doe~c2q;. pc;.1q: t!le..gtuoy... :. '.. '.. t....-!;i:. c.,~('\ \ ~..\ 1J'-~ -.../ j;, tp<, ij i'> t)'i~ t

4 4 6,/~. --li'1 i ~ He bec.:!:~,e a little excited and said lotio-no, don't want i t :. mxf~.,a :~~.&l ~O~g:~ ~.,.. 1 'you t:ilkin~~ ~O ~h~,:;,, you Jl r:'~j'cl;,~ ~oqills.<':.t.r.e;: '{ou were! ' :~; t- ~......t: ~ Y..,... <'. ' i ~ -? v'c. :0:-:',o:ene hnd.o:, rad>ohon. 11 ' t.!1e~ asr:«'j ~-l:... ~at-..-; :tr-a -0 r.xala t~,n. 1- ~..a. h~en. expose;;.j. to ana lie SolO 'You wcn~ ex-,osed Lo lonlzel.1 radlatlon. i i,.. 1 t as~ed him...:-.at the soviets were using the energy for and \~' ;, \. how 1 t was generated. :.; i t He said that the energy radiated from an atomic battery that they used to power radio transmitters used for bugging pur poses. il. '\ asked him where the soviets kept the battery. He said, n the attic.!< '-' t mentioned that had been there when it began radiating { and when it stopped and asked how they turned it off. He 1, said they must have come and removed it. ~. said had been there all day and didn't hear anyone in the attic. also asked him why the soviets didn t tap off the house power i\ :~... '\,for their bugging transmitters as they did allover the Soviet! ;',1 Union. He said that the soviets couldn't do that because when \~' \ you turned off the light, swi tch on the wall., you would turn :1\ off the power to the transmitters], ~~~'~,~ ntelligenca ~gencies had been triefed on detection of radiation after our return from U.S.S.R. He thought had filed a report. _ ~._. G!.~ate and ::n~elligence agencies _had ',> --'-'-lj ~,.. me'!: prlor to the U.s. Presldents V1S~ t and expressed concern j about radiation. Dulles who had visited Moscow several times ~ suddenly got ill and died of cancer - they thought there was,~ 1 a connection because other high U.S. officials in Moscow had i ~ also been exposed to the radiation and died of cancer. Their j major concer~ about ~~e U.s. President's visit to Moscow was that i i he might be exposed to the radiation1) ~, ~.,.J-,;.~~-..,,:::Jt~~.J ):J.~ [)/'- (,...,.rc..<',../.i \. v _' j /< in:?: '),~

5 EXPLANATON OF EXEMPTONS SUBSECTONS OF TTLE 5, UNTED STATES CODE, SECTON 552 (FOA): (b) (1) (A) specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and (8) are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order; (b)(2) related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency; (b)(3) specifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other than section 552b of this title), provided that such statute (A) requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue, or (8) establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld; (b)(4) trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential; (b)(5) inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters which would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency; (b)(6) personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; (b)(7) records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that the production of such law enforcement records or information, (A) could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings, (8) would deprive a person of aright to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication, (C) could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, (D) could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source, including a State, local, or foreign agency or authority or any private institution which furnished information on a confidential basis, and, in the case of a record or information compiled by a criminal law enforcement authority in the course of a criminal investigation or by an agency conducting a lawful national security intelligence investigation, information furnished by a confidential source, (E) would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions if such disclosure could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law, or (F) could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual; (b)(8) contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of an agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions; or (b)(9) geological and geophysical information and data, including maps, concerning wells SUBSECTONS OF TTLE 5, UNTED STATES CODE, SECTON 552a (PA): (b) No agency shall disclose any record which is contained in a system of records by any means of communication to any person, or to another agency, except pursuant to a written request by, or with the prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains, (d)(5) information compiled in reasonable anticipation of a civil action proceeding. General Exemptions: 0)(1) applies to CrA records and information provided by foreign governments; 0)(2) maintained by an agency or component thereof which performs as its principal function any activity pertaining to the enforcement of criminal laws, including police efforts to prevent, control, or reduce crime or to apprehend criminals, except records of arrest. Specific Exemptions: (k)(1) specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy al')d (8) are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order; (k)(2) investigatory material compiled for law enforcement purposes, other than criminal which did not result in loss of a right, benefit or privilege under Federal law, or which would identify a source under an express promise of confidentiality, or, prior to the effective date of this section, under an implied promise of confidentiality; (k)(3) maintained in connection with providing protective services to the President of the United States or other individuals pursuant to section 3056 ottitie 18; (k)(4) required by statute to be maintained and used solely as statistical records; (k)(5) investigatory material compiled solely for the purpose of determining suit ability, eligibility, or qualifications for Federal civilian employment, military service, Federal contracts, or access to classified information, the disclosure of such material would reveal the identity of a source under an express promise of confidentiality, or, prior to the effective date of this section, under an implied promise of confidentiality; (k)(6) testing or examination material used solely to determine individual qualifications for appointment or promotion in the Federal service the disclosure of which would compromise the testing or examination process; or (k)(7) evaluation material used to determine potential for promotion in the armed services, the disclosure of such material would reveal the identity of a source under an express promise of confidentiality, or, prior to the effective date of this section, under an implied promise of confidentiality.

6 63934 Federal RegisterNoL 69, No. 212 Rules and Regulations Subpart F - Appeal Procedures Appeal of denial of access to, declassification of, amendment of, accounting of disclosures of, or challenge to classification of records. (a) Right of administrative appeal. Except for records that have been reviewed and withheld within thc? past two years or are the subject of litigation, any requester whoserequest for access to records, declassification of records, amendment of records, accounting of disclosure of records, or any authorized holder of classified information whose classification challenge has been denied, has a right to appeal the denial to the Department's Appeals Review Panel. This appeal right includes the right to appeal the determination by the Department thatno records responsive to an access request exist in Department files. Privacy Act appeals may be made only by theindividual to whom the records pertain.. (b)' F.qrrrT: ojappeaz.. TJ1e:[f;,jf;1fO re'q1j.,i.reclf6ri:q for 1lJl.,a:ppe?J,., :aowev~r;jfise.s~~ritiil that the appeal contain a clear statement of the d.ecision or determination by the Department being appealed. When possible, the appeal should include argumentation and documentation to support the appeal and to contest the bases fbr denial cited by the Department. The appeal should be sent to: Chairman, Appeals Review Panel, c/o Appeals Officer, AlRPSPS/PPLC, U.S. Department of State, SA-2, Roorn 8100, WashingtOi; DC ioo. (c) Time limits. The appeal should be received within 60 days of the date of receipt by the requester of the Department's denial. The time limit for response to an appeal begins to run on the day that the appeal is received. The time limit (exdudiilg. Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays) for agency decision on an administrative appeal is 20 days under the FOA (which may be extended 'tor lip to an additional 10 days in unusual circumstances) and 30 days under the Privacy Act (which the Panel may exte:nd an additional 30 days fo'r good cause shown). The Panel. shall decide mandatory declassification review appeals as promptly' as poss ible.. Cd) NotijicatiQn fo app'ellant. The Chaimi(ill of the Appeals Review Panel shall notify the appellant 4 writin.g of the Panel's decision on the appeal~ ~en the decision is to uphold tli~~ deni$.l; the Chairman shall include in his notification the reasons therefore. The' appellant shall be advised that the decision of.the Panel represents the rmaldecision of the Department and of the right to seek judicial review of the Panel's decision, when applicable. n mandatory declassification review appeals,. the Panel. shall a~vise th~.req?ester of the right to appe,...al the decision to the ' nteragencysecullty Classfcatron Appeals Panel under 3.)(d) of EO